Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the court’s most senior member, announced Friday his intention to retire after 35 years, setting the stage for a partisan tug of war over the President Barack Obama’s second high court nomination in a high-stakes election year.

On Friday, Obama lauded the 89-year-old Stevens as an “impartial guardian of the law” who has served with “honor and humility.”

“While we cannot replace Justice Stevens’ experience or wisdom, I will seek someone in the coming weeks with similar qualities – an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law, and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people,” Obama said at the White House.

“It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.”

The president also vowed to “move quickly” to name a Supreme Court nominee, as Stevens requested in his resignation letter, adding that he views the presidential duty as among his “most serious responsibilities.”

Justice Stevens has had both a long and distinguished career on the Supreme Court, said Brad Williams, the Pasadena- based director of the 9th Judicial Circuit Historical Society.

“He’s had an important impact as a member of the court and he will be missed by conservatives and liberals alike,” he said.

Stevens has issued notable decisions on issues such as detention procedures of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, copyright matters and equal protection of the law, experts say.

He also issued a “stunning” dissenting opinion in Bush v. Gore, in which he strongly criticized his colleagues on the court who decided in favor of George W. Bush following the 2000 presidential election rather than turning the issue over to the state of Florida to allow the electoral process to work itself through, Williams said.

While some consider Stevens to be the leader of the liberal wing of the court, he was appointed to the federal bench by two Republican presidents, first by Richard Nixon in 1970 to the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, and then by Gerald Ford to the Supreme Court in 1975. And, Stevens has referred to himself as a conservative.

“He adheres to the rule of the law and he believes strongly in the integrity of the judiciary,” Williams said.

Stevens is often considered liberal because over the years, the court itself has moved increasing to the right, said Daniel Klerman, a Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law, who also has served as a law clerk for Stevens in 1993-94.

“He only looks like a liberal because the court has become so dramatically conservative over the last 30 years,” Klerman said. “I think he’s an independent.”

Stevens tries to get each case right on the facts before him, rather than trying to enunciate broad legal principles that would govern cases he hasn’t thought out, he said.

Stevens is also the only justice on the court that writes a first draft of his own opinions, while other justices delegate that to their law clerks and then heavily edit them, Klerman said.

“It reflects his views that you can’t decide a case unless you really have grappled with the facts and law yourself that comes from writing the first draft,” he said.

One local judge also had words of praise for Stevens, who turns 90 later this month.

“To me, he is one of the greatest justices of the Supreme Court that we’ve ever had,” said Judge Dorothy Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, who has met Stevens a number of times. “He has left a legacy of outstanding Supreme Court opinions that will be studied by lawyers and law students for decades to come.”

Several candidates are believed to be under consideration by the White House for a nomination, including federal appeals court judges Merrick Garland of Washington and Diane Wood of Chicago and U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lance Ito said he was hopeful that Obama would replace Stevens with a justice that has some real courtroom experience.

“I hope he appoints somebody who has experience as a trial lawyer, preferably also as a trial judge, much like (Supreme Court Justice Sonia) Sotomayor. … She has an appreciation of the practicality and reality of the decisions they have to make,” Ito said.

Brenda Gazzar is a multilingual multimedia reporter who has worked for a variety of news outlets in California and in the Middle East since 2000. She has covered a range of issues, including breaking news, immigration, law and order, race, religion and gender issues, politics, human interest stories and education. Besides the Los Angeles Daily News and its sister papers, her work has been published by Reuters, the Denver Post, Ms. Magazine, the Jerusalem Post, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, The Cairo Times and others. Brenda speaks Spanish, Hebrew and intermediate Arabic and is the recipient of national, state and regional awards, including a National Headliners Award and one from the Associated Press News Executives' Council. She holds a dual master's degree in Communications/Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.